Anyone who was
breathing oxygen in the day of olive-colored linoleum, rotary phones,
and console TVs most likely remembers the opening montage to ABC’s Wide
World of Sports. The actual content of the show—from bowling to
horse racing to gigantic South African men dragging Renaults—are now
a blur, but the stirring music and distinct voice of Jim McKay: “The
thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat!” were anything but forgettable.
And while the smiling faces and raised arms of those lucky enough to
represent “the thrill of victory” have probably slipped your mind,
we bet the images that accompanied “the agony of defeat” still glow
as brightly as ever in your memories. One in particular…

The defining piece of opening footage from Wild World of Sports is
the out-of-control ski jumper, Vinko Bogataj of the country formerly
known as Yugoslavia, tumbling headlong off the ramp into a cloud of
limbs, skis, and snow in a wipeout for the ages. Success just doesn’t
linger in the mind or the stomach like failure.

Vinko Bogataj is The Worst of Sports. But there is so much
more (you can read the pieces in RED by
clicking the title):

Most Overrated moments:

Bill Buckner's groundball gaffe in the 1986 World Series wasn’t
even the worst blunder he committed in a Fall Classic